The city is prosecuting the owner of a pit bull that mauled a Nepean toddler in April.

A summons has been issued under the province’s Dog Owners’ Liability Act against a man named Andrew Weiss, said Linda Anderson, chief of bylaw and regulatory services.

The city alleges Weiss violated two provisions of the law. One prohibits owning a pit bull. The other bans the “transfer of a pit bull, whether by sale, gift or otherwise.” Contravention is a non-criminal provincial offence.

Weiss is to appear in court Sept. 11, according to a written statement from Anderson on Wednesday.

A man who identified himself as Weiss declined to comment on the legal action when contacted by telephone.

She was mauled when she went to pet the dog on the floor of her Draffin Court home in Centrepointe. Cali’s father, Tanner Longworth, had to wedge the animal’s powerful jaws open with his hands to free his daughter.

The dog had joined the family a day earlier, after it bit another child, according to neighbours. They said the owner didn’t want to put the dog down so Cali’s mother, Christine Leclair, agreed to look after it for a week despite its history.

A man outside the home who identified himself as Longworth declined to comment Wednesday.

Individuals convicted under the act and its regulations or for contravening an order made under the law are liable to a maximum fine of $10,000 or jail for up to six months, or both.

The Ontario government introduced the law in 2005, shortly after Ottawa’s Jayden Clairoux, a two-year-old boy, was mauled by three pit bulls near his home. The dogs’ owner, Shridev Cafe, was charged with three counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm. Cafe pleaded guilty to one count and was sentenced to one month in jail.

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